Search

Paul Krugman, uber-liberal and generally smart if infuriating economist, said the most extraordinary thing on ABC’s This Week yesterday (I can’t embed the video, so you’ll have to follow this link – check it out with about 3:30 to go).

“This is the clearest policy initiative I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Wow. Way to drink the Kool-Aid. When did Krugman go from being opinionated independent economist to full-time shill for the Obama Administration?

What Krugman said is patently untrue. Bush had his share of bad policies, but he was always clear, to a fault (“with us or against us”). The reason healthcare is floundering is no one can sell the bill because no one knows what’s in the bill.

I watch a lot of political TV, read a lot on the internet, and follow the issues closely. I see a lot of coverage of the horserace, and whether It will pass. I see a lot of talk on the cost of It, and It costs too much. What I don’t see is a lot of coverage of what It actually is.

Public option, in or out? Wait, a Co-op, instead of a public option. But we can already legally do Co-op’s now, and they are rare. Is there a reason why, perhaps? Healthcare reform has turned into health insurance reform. Everyone is covered. No, wait, 10% still won’t be covered. Hold on – reforming MEDPAC is the key! What’s MEDPAC, and how is that NOT the government deciding what care I should have (what R’s are complaining about). How will this contain costs? Wait, it doesn’t contain costs? Then why are we doing it? What’s in the bill anyway?

I know I sound like a broken record, but this is what happens when you outsource your mandate to Pelosi and Reid.

Pundit, to his credit, has tried to run a series of posts on healthcare. Unfortunately, what is exposed is that people have a lot of ideological opinions on healthcare (“The government should be out of the business of healthcare,” “Government healthcare is a fundamental right” – thanks for the new insights), and few facts.